09 Jan
“Where are you going?” – asked my sons, on seeing my wife and I getting ready to go out at night.
“We are going out for dinner” – I replied.
“Just the 2 of you? But why? – Our children were confused because they see us together every single day at work and couldn’t understand why we would want to spend even more time together.
“Well, because I WANT to spend time with your Maa.” I insisted!
If I am being brutally honest, I love my wife more than I love my children. I absolutely love spending time with her. On one hand, I love to capture fleeting moments of flirting with her, talking to her, laughing with her, and on the other, I feel equally inspired to plan with her, paint a future canvas with her, dream with her. Of course, a lot of this “spending time together” is about work, kids, family, future – but the point is, it is together! Unconventional as it may be, I don’t hesitate to say this out loud – that SHE is the one I love more than anyone including our kids 🙂
Of course raising our children and being in their service is both a joy and honor, but we also equally love to spend time with each other and keep the romance of our relationship alive. In fact we truly believe that our kids are implicitly learning what is togetherness and companionship between two partners.
I see so many couples around me that are dug deep in playing the necessary roles of co-bread-winners, care-givers, parents, and providers. But it would be awesome to still be ‘friends and lovers’ to each other first (followed by all other roles)! And I don’t think it takes long holidays or expensive gifts or surprise dates – in fact it takes maybe a short walk, a quick coffee, a fleeting moment! Short but consistent amounts of time together, casual conversations and an intentional discipline is all that one needs.
For people who are with each other yet ‘NOT TOGETHER’, and for the ones who have worked hard to keep the romance alive, I hope you intentionally make the most of your festive break rekindling your relationships!
Even if it means loving your partner/spouse a little more than your kids sometimes 🙂 Happy new years!
